Last weekend saw Lough Erne Yacht Club host the J24 Irish National Championships with the event starting last Friday and finishing up on Sunday.

The event was sponsored and supported by Fermanagh & Omagh District Council, Hidden Hearing, Rope Locker, and Blakes of the Hollow.

There were entries from throughout Ireland as many made the journey to the Erne waters, including participants from Carlingford, Cork, Sligo, Bray Wicklow, Lough Ree and Greystones.

The largest entry was from the host club with five boats altogether.

The event included two under-25 teams and three past Irish champions with 16 boats in total.

There were challenging conditions during Friday’s racing which was held in the broad lough as there was a constant changing of direction in the breeze and strength keeping both the race organisers and their competitors busy.

Racing was dominated by double reigning European champions Headcase, led by Cillian Dickson, counting three first places.

Equally consistent were Dave Bailey and team Hard on Port with three second-place finishes.

Connor Haughton’s team on Jupiter from Wicklow finished the day in third. Both the silver and under-25 divisions were headed by Oisin Brennan and his team from Sligo on Gossip.

There was improved weather on Saturday and initially, the wind seemed moderate, however, the breeze continued to build throughout the day which meant the smaller jibs were the order of the day on all boats.

Headcase continued to dominate winning the first two races on Saturday with a fourth place in the final shortened race.

Hard on Port continued their consistency in second place to score two third places and a second.

Sligo team Blind Squirrel, led by Colm O’Flaherty, had a good day in the strong winds moving up to third overall.

Ken Draper and his young team from Sligo in Jevan took the lead in the silver fleet from Oisin Brennan in Gossip.

Unfortunately, due to the windy condition forecast on Sunday, like most of the rest of Ireland, no racing took place and Saturday finishing positions remained.

Leaving Headcase the new Irish National Champions with their next event at the 2024 J/24 World Championship in Seattle, USA.

Local honours went to Il Riccio. JP McCaldin and the rest of his team won the final race after missing out on the first race due to a crew injury, to their disappointment.

Luke McBride and his Crazyhorse team finished seventh with Tim Rippey and his team on Jigalo 13th, Barry Humphries on TJ 14th and the LEYC youth team led by Adam Torrens and Leah Pedersen on Jet 16th.

Thanks to the race team led by Derek Bothwell from Howth Yacht Club and all the volunteers who provided a successful event for all the competitors.

Anyone interested parties for the J24 fleet, for its autumn series, are encouraged to meet at the club at 11am on Sundays from September 8 to October 13.